Bill Simmons had Chuck Klosterman on the BS Report yesterday to speak mostly about LeBron James. One of the first things that Klosterman brings up is the rumor about Delonte West and LeBron’s mom. (Starts at the 7:20 mark in part 1.) They discuss the rumor for a few minutes without actually saying what the rumor is because its common knowledge at this point. I transcribed the main part of the conversation that deals with the rumor.

Klosterman: “You sort of feel like this Donte West rumor…”
*Simmons interrupts to correct the name.*
Klosterman: “… is true. And that he felt sort of like this is something that everybody in their organization knew about and by not telling him, yeah, he had animosity toward the franchise and the organization.”

Simmons: “Hold on, let me interject because I’m not positive we’re allowed to talk about this, although I feel like we should because, look, whether its true or untrue – and ESPN I don’t think is in the policy of running rumors as news or all that. I did talk about it in a chat. Um, at some point, this took a life of its own. And you know, if you look at the way LeBron left and the way he played those last couple games and the fact that you know if you watch this team the last 2-3 years, how tight they were, they all these little rituals. You know, this was like one of the most close-knit NBA teams I think any of us had ever seen. And by the end of that Boston series that was gone. And then he does that special, The Decision, and does not mention these players once. Has not mentioned them since he left. Has not said like, ‘goodbye to my brother Mo Williams’ in a tweet. None of that stuff. Its almost like he’s gone out of his way to distance himself from everybody on that team.”
*Klosterman steps in to bring up Ilgauskas.Who is LeBron’s only remaining friend from the Cleveland squads.*
Simmons: “It does make you wonder and you know I hypothesized in a mailbag and I couldn’t go as far as I could, but something happened.”

At this point Simmons starts talking about how they can’t really talk about it and they move on to another possible theory. Personally, I think the most telling part of all this is that Simmons believes this. This is a guy with connections all around the league. Am I the only one that feels like Bill Simmons is an NBA insider with the connections to either confirm or deny this story? Later in the podcast he tells Klosterman in no uncertain terms that Miami – Los Angeles will be a Christmas day game. Because he knows these kinds of things.

Obviously, if its true, he’s still not allowed to talk about it, but if its false, why would he continue to give it any credence whatsoever?

Here’s what I wrote back in May when the rumor first surfaced.

[ESPN, You're Not My Dad via Getty]